


Upon the Anvil of Eternity

by quicksylver28



Series: Little Black Dress - Works in Sentinel Fandom [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Explicit Language, M/M, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, Smoking, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-14 23:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4584507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksylver28/pseuds/quicksylver28
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Bucky comes online as a Sentinel after Hydra messed with his DNA , Guide Steve faces a difficult choice. Will he Choose his brother from another mother or Alpha Sentinel Tony Stark</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I took this challenge because i love the Sentinel verse and i love Avengers verse too. Steve Rogers is a challenge to write because he seems so good and righteous and i usually deal with flawed characters. so i tried to look behind the shield and see steve the man. i hope i do him justice with this. 
> 
> Inspiration for all three Little Black Dress Challenge Stories comes from this poem.
> 
> The Sword’s the Soul of thy vast seigniory,  
>      Forged in the white hot flame, from flawless steel,  
> With mighty hammer-stroke and slow anneal,  
>      Upon the anvil of eternity.  
> Their hearts aglow with pride and loyalty  
>      For Sire and Land, thy Sons with dauntless zeal  
> Press forward to the fray, through woe or weal,  
>      Seeking delight in life’s extremity!  
>    
> Land of the Cods! Thy sword-smiths as of yore  
>      Still forge the perfect glaives of purest ore.  
> Still live the Samurai, who honour breathe,  
>      And, rather than to shame their ancestry,  
> To live dishonoured and dishonour thee,  
>      In their own hearts their swords would sooner sheathe.
> 
> TAKESADA

 

Steve ducked behind the large metal conduit on the roof of avengers tower, not the pretty side with the landing pad and the giant A but the odd patch of gravel roof crowded with ducting access, electrical ports and antennas. From behind a small nook he pulled out a half crumpled pack of Marlboro's and a cheap plastic lighter he'd swiped from a desk at SHEILD.

Sliding down the concrete wall to sit on a small wooden crate he'd brought up to sit on when he wanted to draw the city skyline, he brought a cigarette to his lips and lit up with a sigh. He'd always wanted to be the Marlboro man when he was younger. He would see the advert's with his heroes on them, strong men who could do anything, say anything and not take shit from anyone.

All the boys and girls in the old neighborhood snuck out to smoke on street corners and in darkened alleys if they wanted to look cool. Luckies, Chesterfields and Camels hung from mouths, stained with lipstick, tucked behind ears, into pockets and purses. Steve had wanted to be one of those cool kids so badly but his traitorous lungs had made it impossible.

Bucky had smoked a few times but then stopped when he saw how much it bugged Steve that they couldn't do it together. Once in a while he would pinch a few pennies and bring home a box of candy cigarettes with cartoons on them and they would sit on the front stoop and pretend to be as cool as James Cagney.

After the serum, with his new lungs and his new online guide status, he'd wanted to give it a try but the temptation of forbidden fruit had faded by then, his new body counteracting the nicotine before it could even affect him. He'd shared a butt or two with the other commandos during war, sitting ankle deep in the mud and blood while they huddled around a fire, the slow burn of the smoke already fading as he exhaled.

After the ice and months upon months of never feeling warm enough, he'd taken to walking the streets of his old hometown, collar pulled up and hat tipped down over his face, standing at the self same street corners where the boys and girls used to hang out so long ago. Now a days there were just the bums, winos, gang members, prostitutes with their pimps, the people who didn't have a home and the people who just didn't want to go home.

If he was lucky he would be able to bum a ciggy and light off of a stranger as they stood around fires blazing in old barrels. He would listen to the people talk and chatter about their woes and ache for his old neighborhood, soaking in the emotions that had layered over the city and it's people over the years he'd been asleep.

Sometimes he would buy cheap minimart cigarettes, matchbooks and sandwiches and share them among whoever was there that day before leaving and going back to his SHEILD apartment. Some accepted warily, others cursed him out but he always bought and shared and exuded harmless vibes and eventually they came to trust him somewhat.

They would take in his large form, few words, set jaw and quiet ways. The way he never imposed or bothered anyone and would, on occasion, escort the call girls home in the wee hours of the morning and never once pestered them or tried to change them or preach to them. The way he would break up scuffles by holding the combatants apart until they settled down, never taking one side or the other. They started to call him 'Tank' on the streets for the way he rumbled down the sidewalk, people stepping out of his way. He made them feel protected, safe by his presence alone.

When training and eventually the Avengers started taking up more of his time, he stopped being able to go back to Brooklyn and the old neighborhood turned new once again but he still kept up the occasional smoke. It did nothing to him really but the temporary burn would settle him in ways he couldn't describe, the tobacco smell taking him back to the days on the old stoop with Bucky and his mother calling him for dinner.

It was difficult trying to hide the smell of cigarette smoke from the other Avengers, especially since the team consisted of at least two online sentinels but he'd managed it so far. Partially because of all the times they'd all came home smelling like smoke from some catastrophe or another and also because no one seemed to want to believe that someone as wholesome and clean cut as Captain America would have such a disgusting habit.

He'd seen the new research on the Google, with help from JARVIS of course. The cancer that destroyed human bodies and it had made him sick to think back at how they'd hyped up smoking back in the day. Hollywood stars, athletes even doctors and pregnant women testifying on printed page and on radio how smoking helped them so much. That these days, even with so much truth out there, that people were poisoning themselves slowly with their eyes wide open.

He'd sworn off the stuff for a full six months, vowing never to touch the stuff again until after a particularly disastrous mission he'd fumbled some crumpled bills unto the counter of the local seven eleven and had ducked into a nearby alley, the first pull untying a knot deep within in his chest as he sagged against the brick wall.

The brisk wind of the roof top takes the smoke as he exhales, slumping against the roof's concrete wall. This week had been especially difficult. Hell, this year had been especially difficult. With HYDRA being within SHEILD for fuck knows how many years. SHEILD collapsing as Natasha purges their files. The scramble to pull SHEILD assets out of harm's way when their covers were all blown. Dealing with the fractured World Council, the US government and the Media. Dealing with the aftermath of Fury's 'Death' and the cluster fuck that was finding out that Phil Coulson was not as dead as they'd all been lead to believe but alive and well and the new Director of SHEILD 2.0.

And the cherry plopped on the top of that shit sundae was finding out that his best friend and brother James 'Bucky' Barnes was alive and kicking and had been HYDRA's toy for decades, stuck in the freezer when not needed as an assassin and covert operative and mind wiped so much his memory was swiss cheese, For the past weeks he and Sam had been trailing the Winter Soldier across the continental united states, sometimes missing him by days, even hours. Once they'd found some coffee he'd left behind, still warm in the cup.

Just when Steve had been ready to pull out his hair in frustration, Fury had sent word from his contacts in Europe. The address of an abandoned warehouse where they found a feverish Barnes, half delirious from an infection where his metal arm had been damaged and dug into his flesh. They'd brought him back to the tower, Bruce and Tony being the only ones they could trust anymore to deal with Barnes' injuries. Bruce had dealt with the flesh and blood Barnes while Stark helped with the damaged arm, muttering continuously to himself as he worked on the complex machinery.

Steve took another long drag at the cigarette, breathing out through his nose as he tapped ash of the butt with a finger. After Bucky had come out of surgery with health and arm intact and in working order, the real tap dance had begun.

Bruce had taken one look at the storm brewing within the tower and had found a project in India to attach himself too ASAP. Clint had gone to put Coulson's new team through their paces, making sure his lover's team proved themselves capable of watching Phil's back. Thor had taken Jane and Darcy to Asgard to visit his Mother and check if Loki was still languishing away in confinement.

That left Steve and Sam, Natasha and Bucky in the tower. And Tony of course.

As the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist, Tony Stark was a brash, unrepentant, womanizer and smart alec but Tony Stark the Sentinel was darkly quiet with jet black eyes always watching through long thick lashes. Sheer warrior power writhing under tightly controlled, thin veneer of charm and sarcasm.

The rare occasions Sentinel Tony came out- Clint never fully relaxed, Natasha kept running quick fingertips over her various knife sheaths, Bruce's shoulders got tight and distant thunder rumbled. It always made Steve's Guide aspect kick into high gear, countermanding the heavy primal itch that formed between the shoulder blades with soothing warmth and comfort.

Tony would look up at him, inhaling deeply, something dangerous lurking in the deep black of his eyes and then suddenly he would blink and be just Tony again, ready with a grin and some quip that had everyone grinning and shaking off the tension like a long forgotten dream.

He crushed the butt into the concrete, breathing out his last bit of tobacco fumes when a soft ping echoed over his head. He looked askance at the last ciggy left in the box and lamented that he would have to sneak out for a new pack soon. It was getting harder and harder to buy them because more and more people recognized him on the street. He couldn't very well explain away why Captain America was buying cancer sticks.

The soft ping came again and he tucked the crumpled box and lighter back into the nook he'd pried it from, getting up and dusting off his pants with a sigh. A double ping sounded and he frowned. JARVIS only did a double ping if things got urgent.

Everyone knew about Steve's hidey hole on the roof, that he came there when he needed to be alone. It was both the best and worst kept secret in the tower. They all thought he came up to draw or to stare out at the city. As far as Steve knew JARVIS was the only one who knew about the smoking and for some reason had yet to report it to anyone else. Steve was grateful for that.

That's why he knew to pay attention to when Jarvis pinged him while he was there. He nimbly slipped along the edge of the roof, pushing the elevator call button, steeping inside as it opened almost immediately.

"What the situation?" he said, slipping into his Captain persona.

"It seems that Mr. Barnes and Sir are having a slight altercation." Jarvis said smoothly.

Steve frowned as the floors whipped by. "What kind of altercation? Where are the others?"

"Both Mr. Wilson and Ms. Romanov are present in the common area but Mr. Barnes does not seem to be responding positively to their presence. I deemed it necessary to call you because Mr. Barnes' heart beat and breathing indicate the possibility for physical action."

Steve willed the elevator to go faster. In the weeks since Bucky's retrieval, the only thing that has proven to calm him positively had been Steve's Guide presence. He'd reacted poorly to Natasha's and Tony's presence, the two being the only online sentinels in close proximity. Sam being a latent guide and Steve himself being a Level 6 online Guide made them much easier to be around for the former Winter Soldier.

"Let me know if his stats go into the red ok Jarvis." he clenched his fists and forced himself to calm.

The AI's voice held a tinge of panic. "I believe that would be now Sir."

Steve hit the corridor at a run, skidding around the corner and jumping the banister to the lower level with a soft thump, he straitened and turned just in time to see Bucky clock Stark square in the face with his flesh and blood hand, Tony's head whipping to the side with a sickening crack.

Seconds seem to slow as Stark flew back into the kitchen area with a cry, Sam and Natasha holding Bucky back as he tried to follow the fallen man into the kitchen. Steve tackled them all, taking them down in a tangle of limbs. Bucky was shouting something in Russian, almost frothing at the mouth as his eyes flashed.

Natasha murmurs in Russian, trying to calm the agitated man but Barnes growled deeply at her. She bared her teeth in challenge but a sharp order from Steve had her backing off, untangling her self from the dog pile. She slipped away, slinking into the kitchen as Sam and Steve held unto Barnes until he finally stilled, slumping against the carpet.

Slowly, his heart rate slowed and they all began the breathing exercises Sam had taught them. Barnes relaxed by inches, finally closing his eyes and exhaling deeply to Sam's low count.

Steve and Sam exchanged looks. Steve curious and Sam frustrated.

"So…" Steve nudged Bucky gently "… you wanna tell me what happened Buck?"

Barnes eyes snapped open as a frown marred his haggard face. When he turned to Steve, his eyes were blazing the same way they used to in the past when people bullied pre-serum Steve. His mouth twisted into a snarl as he grits out the words...

"Ask Stark"


	2. Chapter 2

"Well thab escaladedb quickly" Tony groaned from his place on the floor, pulling himself up to lean his back against the kitchen cabinet. "I dink bmy node id brokend."

Natasha hummed as she leant over him, prodding his face with gentle fingertips as Stark winced and cringed away. "Not broken, just dislocated."

"I'b gonna need sob painkillers if we're gonna reset YEEEOUCH" Tony screamed as the redhead deftly snapped the bone back into alignment, "… son of a bitch Widow, warn a guy next time."

"Surprise is the best painkiller" she replied with a smug smile, handing him a hand towel with a couple of ice cubes wrapped in it. He pressed gingerly it to his face, giving her the hairy eyeball as she leaned a hip against a nearby counter and smirked back at him.

They both snapped to look at Steve in unison as he stepped into the kitchen area. He always thought that it was a bit creepy the way Tasha and Tony could be such opposite personalities in life but have such similar sentinel behavior. The way he would catch them acting around him sometimes, so careful of him as an unbonded Guide, almost solicitous in their mannerisms. Never anything to overt but Steve felt it none the less.

He and Sam quickly settled Bucky between them on the tall chairs at the kitchen bar, as far enough as they could get from the two sentinels within the same area. Barnes was tense, resting his palms flat against the marble top, his left knee shaking nervously. Sam leaned forward unto his folded arms, frowning thoughtfully.

Steve squeezed Bucky's shoulder, smiling to himself as Bucky relaxed further. He turned to look at Tony, who'd gotten to his feet and had hopped up to sit on the counter. His face was already swelling and looking red from the blow. Wouldn't that be a spectacular bruise later. 

"What's this really about Stark?" he asked, injecting a little of his Captain voice into his words. Tony stiffened briefly then slouched against the cabinet. He tried to grin but ended up wincing.

"Oh you mean that little fracas?" he scoffed, "… just a little misunderstanding between me and the one armed wonder. No biggie."

"No biggie?" Barnes snarled, "You called me 'murder face' you pint sized, nib cocked, swacked up, rat fink. Be grateful I only hit you up the shnozz."

"Wow…" Tony pouted,"... I am offended I think… uh, does that mean what I think it means or do I need to have Jarvis pull up google for that?"

Steve pushed Bucky firmly back down into his seat with a long suffering sigh, "Tony."

Stark lifted his hands in mock surrender and shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. I was just talking to Widow and making my coffee when full metal jacket here burst through the door and got all up in my kool aid. Ask him what got his petty coats all a-ruffled."

Steve turned to his brother from another mother. Bucky huffed, staring at Stark darkly through hooded eyes. His long hair hung in front of his face, having escaped the loose pony tail he usually kept it in. 

The little black bands he used kept falling out at different places around the tower, turning up in the oddest places. Steve would flop unto the couch and find one wedged between the cushions, on the floor of the bathroom, in the dishwasher, he even found one under his bed when he'd been searching for a shoe.

"Sam and I were working out, strength training when I heard short stack here talking shit about me to Natasha. Wondering whether I would snap and kill you all in your sleep." Barnes growled.

"… and your first reaction was physical violence? Way to make us all feel reassured buddy boy." Tony snarked.

It took both Sam and Steve to keep Bucky seated this time. "Tony!" Steve snapped. 

He took a cleansing breath and nodded as Tony shrugged apologetically. Steve took in Natasha's and Tony's guarded looks and his mind raced. There was something here. Something he was missing. Steve kept his face neutral, his guide aspect pulsing calm like a beacon as everyone in the room relaxed by degrees. Bucky had always reacted badly to personal conflict and he needed everyone cool and collected for this. He turned to Sam Wilson-

"Maybe you should tell it from here Sam."

Wilson told of how they were training in the gym three floors down when Bucky had suddenly snarled a curse and stalked out, taking the emergency staircase two at a time to the common area where he'd laid into Tony verbally. Steve had arrived just as Bucky's anger and Tony's sarcasm had reached flash point.

"Wait…" Steve tilted his head. "…did you say you were in the gym? That's three floors down."

"Yeah" Barnes grunted "… what about it?"

"You said you heard Tony talking smack about you. How did you hear that if you were three floors down?" Steve wondered.

He looked up to see a gleam of smug satisfaction in Natasha's eyes even though her face was unreadable. Tony's head was ducked into his chest as he fiddled with the damp towel. He seemed to be avoiding looking at any of them. Steve narrowed his eyes. There was something more, he was sure of it.

Bucky shrugged. "Maybe JARVIS piped the sound down to us by mistake? A short in the intercom?"

JARVIS' cool voice interjected. "All tower intercoms are fully functional Mr. Barnes. I have no record of opening a channel between the Kitchen and the Gymnasium for at least three days."

Bucky shook his head in confusion. "I heard him. Didn't you hear him Sam?"

Sam shook his head. "I didn't hear anything but you cursing as you left."

Steve stared at the table, his mind racing. Bucky had heard Stark conversing from three doors down. How could someone hear from so far away without technological help? But JARVIS said that there was no active intercom connection between the levels and there was no short in the system.

He stared at the top of Tony's head. Why would Stark even be saying those things about Bucky anyway? The both of them had had a long conversation about safety protocols while Bucky had recovered from surgery and Tony had spent sessions alone with Bucky in the workshop while he'd tweaked his metal arm without a peep of concern.

There was something to all of this. Think Steven. He can hear his mother's voice in his head like it was yesterday. Don't try to complicate things. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck then…

"Buck's a DUCK?" he blurts out loudly. They all stare dumbly at him as he blushes.

"I mean," he mumbles, "…Bucky's a sentinel?" 

"Ding Ding..." Tony murmurs, raising serious dark eyes to meet Steve's, "...give the man a prize."

"No way!" Bucky denied hotly, "I ain't. I got tested and eveything. Tell 'em Stevie. They're wrong!"

Steve's mind is reeling as he nods along. "Bucky tested mundane in all the mandatory tests. Even the army one. He didn't have the gene."

"You're right…" Stark nodded, "he didn't have the gene…. back then."

"You can't go from having no S/G genes to having them. That's not possible." Sam interrupts, turning to Steve, "…"how can that be possible?"

"HYDRA." 

Natasha's voice is like a cold and heavy stone in the silence. Stark points at her, nodding and then touches his finger to the tip of his nose, cringing when he remembers his injury.

"Yup" he says, popping the 'p'.

"How?" 

Bucky sounds devastated and Steve puts an arm around him, pulling the smaller man against him, his warm palm on the cool metal of Bucky's arm. Steve's mind is so full of tumbling questions he can't even get one across his tongue. He just wants to shake Tony like a cracker jack box until all his secrets about Bucky tumble out and he wants to go back to that damned bunker and punch in Zola's smug computer face again.

He and Sam were still in the slow process of picking through Bucky's memory of his time as the Winter Soldier and it was akin to walking a mine field. They'd been stepping slowly so far but nothing they'd discovered was close to anything like S/G genetic modification.

Tony claps his hands. "Story time boys and girls. Gather 'round the old fireplace and listen up." 

"Stark." Bucky growls but Tony barrels on as if he doesn't hear.

"After the whole 'HYDRA wolves in SHIELD clothing' debacle and the unceremonious tossing of the dirty laundry out unto the information super highway, thanks for that by the way…." he winks at Widow. 

"My pleasure" she smiles back coyly.

"… I got to wondering how my first hack of SHEILD databases didn't pick up a peep on Hydra. I mean, they’ve been inside SHIELD since the beginning. There should have been SOME evidence. So I wrote a bunch of new code that would scour the files released for some kind of clue. And you know what I found?"

"What?"

Tony sagged. "Bupkis. Not a goddamned thing. I had JARVIS dedicate an entire server, had it running 24/7 and I had shit to show for it. It wasn't until some snot nosed hacker from Saskatchewan found something. I mean, Saskatchewan? Come on, what the fuck is up there but Tim Horton's and snow? What the hell kind of system did he have? An Ice-pad? I mean, come the fuck on!"

"Tony." Steve's Captain voice put an essay in that one word.

"Anyway, this kid found that there data 'piggybacking' on a SHIELD file, kind of like one side of the page was SHIELD data and the blank side was used to store HYDRA files. It was very clever and used SHIELD's own encryption in ways that I won't begin to explain to you now because it would just go over your heads anyway. It was quite genius if I say so myself and I would know since I am a genius myself..."

"Stark." Sam rolled his eyes.

"I had JARVIS contact the hacker of course. Some snot nosed kid who thought that cracking Sheild files would make him famous. I tried to get him some security, Hell, I even offered him money and a job here at SI but he just laughed at me, said that he didn't kowtow to corporate bullies. 

"He must have gotten the attention of the wrong people because he was reported missing hours before I could even get people on the ground to protect him. He's probably dead or in a prison cell somewhere. Either way he's in a deep dark hole and will most likely never see the light of day again."

Stark fiddled with the damp towel for a few seconds then threw the cloth into the sink, a deep frown marring his face. Steve had to hold himself still as Bucky practically thrummed like a livewire next to him. 

"I had JARVIS wipe what he could find of the hack off the internet and got to work applying the kid's method to the rest of the files. Seems that HYDRA's been interested in Sentinels and Guides since it's inception. They've got tons about it. Experiments, tests, dissections, selective breeding. There are schematics and autopsy reports and dissections while the subject was still alive. There are also … pictures."

The kitchen was dead silent as Natasha stepped to the fridge, retrieving a bottle of water which she handed to Stark. He nodded his thanks and cracked it open, downing half before he continued.

"Apparently the breeding programme was taking to long and was too unreliable for them so they started playing with the genes. It's actually quite brilliant really if it weren't so fucking nightmare inducing. The Germans were way ahead of us in gene mapping. It's kind of horrifying really. By the time the 107th went missing back in World War II, they were just getting into the final phases of testing. You fell right into their laps Barnes."

Tony's dark eyes flashed as he look up at them.

"They wanted to MAKE their own Sentinel to be the new Fist of HYDRA"

"Zola..." Bucky stiffened, his face ashen. "….he said that to me… when he pulled me from the snow."

Bucky's eyes got that far away look they got sometimes when he got lost in times gone by. Sam placed steady finger tips on Bucky's pulse point and started the exercises that helped the former Winter Soldier come back from being lost in his memories. 

As Sam's voice murmured into Bucky's ear, Steve turned back to find Tony staring at him intensely. Nonplussed, he cleared his throat and Stark looked away. Steve glanced between Tony and Natasha warily.

"How long did you know that Bucky was … 'given the treatment'?"

"I didn't at first. I came across the files while you and Wilson were still searching. When you brought him in for surgery I had Bruce take a sample for testing to make sure."

"Banner knew?" 

"He was the one who waded through most of the medical jargon" Tony nods. "… the tests came back inconclusive. Some came back latent, some online… others dormant. It was confusing as all hell."

Steve turned that over in his mind. If Buck was sentinel, whether online or latent, that would explain why he was so wary around Tasha and Tony. Dormants were not always affected to the same degree. There was a big difference between online and dormant though… 

"You've been testing his senses haven't you? …" he raised a brow at Tony. "… all the new weird food, the odd air fresheners… the strange conversations? That was you testing his senses?"

A sharp screech startled them all, both Natasha and Tony wincing at the sound. Bucky's metal hand had curled upon itself, the tips of his fingers scraping gouges into the marble counter top. His words hiss from between clenched teeth.

"All this time I think I'm going more nuts that I already am and it's because you fuckers have been playing sentinel games with me? You didn't have the balls to tell me the truth? You, Stark , I can understand being a coward but you Romanova… you sneak around like a смирен червь?"

Natasha raised a single contoured eyebrow at the slur. "Я узнал отлучших. I learned from the best."

"Oooh honey child…" Stark quickly glanced between the smoldering Winter Soldier and the cool as ice Black Widow at they stared each other down. "… I do believe them's fightin' words."

He continued as the two former assassins snapped to glare at him as one. 

"… and It's not like we could just come out and say 'Hey Barnes, you may be more fucked up than we originally thought but we're not exactly sure how much so just sit there and panic while we conduct even more tests on you and totally scramble that game of pick up sticks you call your psyche that you've got goin' on there...'"

"Tony" Steve's voice is a warning.

"Yeah… like that would have gone over like a lead balloon with the Super Friends thing you have going with Rogers and Wilson here, Humpty Dumpty. After they've spent so much time putting your ass back together again, that would have been a real class act on our part. "

"Tony" Steve's growling a bit now.

"But we'll take that under consideration for the next time we find out just how fucked up your former employers really were…"

"TONY!" 

Stark freezes as Steve's guide voice echoes through the kitchen. Seconds tick by like molasses as the sound seems to echo through them like the strum of a base guitar. Tony's face is white and holds no expression as he sits at attention on the counter. Natasha's hands are loose and ready for anything at her sides as her sharp eyes dart around the room.

Life skips like a bumped record player and suddenly time is running normally again. Tony pushes off the counter with a half mumbled 'I'll be in my shop' and is gone in a heart beat. Steve breathes deeply, trying to calm his racing heart. He hadn't meant to put that much power into the voice. He'd just gotten so annoyed. 

He knew that Stark had a tendency to let his mouth run off like that but Steve had felt Bucky coiling tighter with every word. Any longer and they would have had to stop Barnes from leaping over the bar.

Sam stood and slapped Bucky softly on the shoulder. "Come on, Buck. Let's go get some fresh air ok? How about a run to clear your head and we can talk again when we've all calmed down?"

Bucky nods mutely and Steve watches as they shrug into thick hoodies and take the elevator that leads to the lobby. After the doors close Steve let's go the breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. 

"...and that's why Tony Stark can't have nice things." a resigned voice says from above him.

Steve looks up to see Natasha, leaning against the counter once again, staring in the direction Stark had stormed off too.

"What does that mean?" he asks. 

"Nothing..." she shakes her head, crimson locks bouncing around her face as she turns to face him. "… have you been smoking Rogers? I smell cigarette smoke on you."

She steps closer and tilts her head to the side, taking a deep breath through her nose, her eye alight with mischief. "Marlboros."

He leans back in the chair and folds his arms across his broad chest, giving her a flat look.

"Nice try , attempting changing the subject like that Tasha. What did you mean by what you just said about Tony.?"

She stares at him for a while, searching his eyes for something. Apparently she find it because she sighs and goes to the fridge and gets two pudding cup. 

They are tapioca, Steve's favourite. Jarvis often ordered it just for him because everyone else in the tower hated it and it made Steve smile every time he saw a new twelve pack in the large refrigerator. She sets one down in front of Steve and two spoons clatter against the marble. The redhead peels off the foil cover and licks it, making a slight face as she does so.

"Stark doesn't believe that he deserves to get what he wants." 

Steve frowned, licking the pudding his own foil cover and setting it aside. "I don't understand."

"As a child, did you go to Guide classes?" Widow tilted her head in question.

"All Guides did…" Steve nodded, "… it was free from the Centre so we could all go."

Natasha hummed. "Did you learn about 'bond-compatibility' there?"

"Yes, a bit. Some Guides and Sentinels have one true match. Others can be matched with several others, a bond formed with the one chosen."

"Okay. What about Sentinel territory?"

"Sentinels have a primal imperative to territory and often have to have a tribal bond with another sentinel to be able to tolerate them in close quarters, often forming hierarchies within the tribe."

"Good. Just like me and Tony. As a higher ranking sentinel… he tolerates me in his territory…"

"Wait…" Steve licked the spoon and placed it on the counter top. "Don't you kick Stark's ass every time we spar?

"Every damn time..." Natasha chuckled. "… but this is Stark Tower, no matter the giant "A" on it. We sleep in beds Tony provides for us. We eat the food he buys, we use the weapons he makes for us. If we were in trouble he would go to hell and back to bring us home. Captain America may lead the Avengers but Tony Stark, Alpha Sentinel, PROVIDES for his tribe."

Steve mind reeled but Natasha was not done.

"Think about this then. Why would an un-bonded Level 6 Alpha Sentinel like Tony try so hard to verify Barnes status without cause him, or you, undue stress. Even to the point of setting up elaborate and tedious hidden sensory tests over a period of weeks? "

Steve frowned. "if Bucky was online, he would be a threat to the hierarchy of the tribe?"

"If Barnes proved to be a sentinel then he would have to go through me to get to Tony and even if he did, which I doubt, then Tony could always just kick him out. That point is moot. What really matters is WHO would be affected the most by this series of events? Think about it a minute."

Steve bit his lip, running a hand through his blond hair. He could really use a smoke right about now.

"If Bucky gets kicked out by Tony then he'd have to be on the run all the time. He can't get better that way."

"предки спасти меня Rogers" Natasha rolls her eyes and sighs. "...you can be a bit thick at times, you know."

"Hey" Steve whined as she chuckled. "...they don't just let any bozo wear the spangled tights you know. I had to take a test and everything."

"Think about it" Natasha repeats, slinking out of the kitchen and leaving Steve to his thoughts.

He considers going back up to the roof and smoking his last ciggy from the pack but Tasha's unto him now and he knows she'll be back later to needle him relentlessly. Plus, he doesn't want to get in the habit of needing them to much. Once in a while was good enough.

He pads up the stairs to his bedroom and strips, stepping into the shower. He thinks about Tasha had said. About who would be affected the most if Bucky were a sentinel. Bucky would be affected for sure. This would be another consequence of his time with Hydra, another struggle for control over his life. 

Sam would be affected if Bucky were to leave. He'd go with his patient Steve was sure. They'd have to be on the run or would have to go to Coulson for protection while Bucky got himself together. Even though they all loathe to trust any incarnation of SHIELD again, it would be their only choice.

Tony would be affected. If Bucky stayed, he could be unstable for a long time, threatening the Status of the tribe. He could also challenge for dominance and be shot down by Widow and he could win and Tony could withdraw his support. Without Stark back up where would the Avengers be. It could even split the tribe they'd formed over these last couple of years.

Steve himself would be affected. If Bucky left for good, Steve would follow, even as Captain America. It would be difficult but they would make it work somehow. He'd grown up next to this man and had fought beside him through hell. He'd broken through decades of brainwashing to bring his best friend and brother back from the frozen pits and nothing was going to make him leave.

Steve stepped from the steam filled bathroom and padded over to the large bed Stark had gotten custom made for Steve's height and increased mass. Dragging a towel through his hair, his mind ran on Tony's behaviour in the past weeks since Bucky's return.

He'd fixed Bucky's arm, set JARVIS to decrypting the HYDRA files, getting the genetic testing done, setting up the elaborate sensory tests, tweaking the circuits in Bucky's arm so it functioned better and didn't cause so much pain. 

Tony welcomed Bucky and Sam into his home without a whisper of doubt, just on Steve's word alone. He suped up Falcon's wings and made new toys. The retrofitted the old Hulk Room as a gym for Bucky and Steve after the new Hulk Room had been built.

Why had he'd done all of this. It couldn't be out of the goodness of his heart. And Tony didn't know Bucky and Sam that well at all except through Steve…

Oh.

Oh.

Oooooh.

WHO would be most affected? Tasha had mused.

WHO was Tony thinking of when he did the things he did? 

Why would Natasha mention Tony believing himself unworthy of nice things and 'bond-compatibility' in the same conversation? 

When would an un-bonded Level 6 Alpha Sentinel be concerned about the emotional state of a Level 6 un-bonded Guide within his tribe? 

Why would an Alpha sentinel tolerate a weaker sentinel within his nest who could prove to be serious competition in the future, going as far to verify whether status is online or dormant? 

Ding Ding Ding… give the man a prize.

 

"Wow Rogers… " Steve flopped back against the bed with a groan. "...you can be kind of thick sometimes."


	3. Chapter 3

It made Steve chuckle ruefully every time people made fun of him being born of the fourth of July. Every time it was announced during the GI shows or on the old radios programmes and war time cinema shorts he'd found on you tube. 

When Stark or Barton teased him with the red white and blue cakes with rockets that looked like penises or the museum exhibit recording cycled around to his origin story. People sure got a kick out of it for some strange reason. To think, it very nearly hadn't happened that way. 

In fact, it very nearly hadn't happened at all.

What most people didn't know was that Steven Grant Rogers came into the world a whole two months premature. A tiny trembling babe placed into the arms of a tearful Sarah and Joseph Rogers, struggling to live. Of course, at the time the life expectancy of preemies was slim to none and the doctors had no qualms in telling them straight that they needed to start making funeral plans.

Being poor Irish immigrants, the Rogers' had been in desperate need to get help for their son when, finally, they found salvation in Dr. Martin A. Couney and his Famous Baby Incubator Attraction. 

Everyday, Sarah and Joseph would take the trip out to Coney Island to spend time their   
'leanbh buachaill' or baby boy in the weird glass contraption that was saving their son's life. It didn't even matter that people paid to gawk at the tiny babies in the 'Child Hatcheries' day in and day out. All that mattered was their little "independence miracle."

When Joseph couldn't get away from his job, Sarah would make the trip alone and sing to her son through the glass, her soft and steady voice replacing her arms and the steady beat of her heart.

Sleep, sleep, grah mo chree   
Rest tired eyes a while  
Sweet is thy baby’s smile  
Angels are guarding and they watch o’er thee

When finally they were able to bring him home to their small apartment, his father would walk around with baby Steve in his arms, rocking him gently when he was finicky at night, staring at his firstborn son and whispering in Irish brogue his about his day, his secret dreams for long awaited one, his 'feitheamh fada'.

When Steve was five and was tested positive for the Guide gene, his parents had been cautiously excited. Steve's health had fluctuated a lot during his first few years but the government funded Guide classes were free so they sent him along. 

Steve had taken to the classes like a duck to water, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. He would devour the cheap comics the government printed for the classes, listen attentively at story time and happily babble to his exhausted yet smiling parents about all he'd learned that day. 

The day Bucky moved in the next building over, Steve found someone just as obsessed with Sentinels as he was. James Buchanan Barnes had tested as a normie but his Grandfather had been an Alpha Sentinel and he'd grown up on the same stories. One day Bucky's mom went to the building's shared laundry room the same time as Steve's mom and the ladies made fast friends. So did their sons.

When Steve was nine his father died in a tunnel collapse for the underground railway and shattered Steve's world. Life seemed duller after that. He would still come home and tell his mother about his classes but the warm kitchen seemed a little colder with just the two of them in it. 

When Bucky's mom started working shifts Bucky would often be a third at the dinner table, cracking jokes and making the two remaining Rogers laugh again. By the time Steve is thirteen the boys are living in each others pockets and when Bucky's drunkard dad walked out, the Barnes' find solace in Sarah and Steve.

By the time he's fifteen and all of his guide classmates are coming online and finding sentinels, Steve daydreams about coming online and finding a sentinel of his own, finding a way to do some good. His body is too frail for physical labour and he'd always been more artistic and less mathematical so he wouldn't be wowing anyone with his mental prowess. 

Bucky would lay with him on the roof of the apartment building, staring at the clouds and talking about all the things Steve could do as a guide, how exciting life would be when he came online. He was so ready, he couldn't wait.

Sixteen came and passed and he was still latent. Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen years old, sliding passed the age that most sentinels and guides coming online. The looks came along soon enough, side glances and quirked eyebrows from neighbors and the guide teachers at the centre.

Twenty, he was twenty and still not online. He would catch his mother frowning when she though he couldn't see. Even Bucky started biting his lip when the subject came up. Steve took his concerns to the Alpha Guide at the Centre, a beautiful woman by the name of Martha Bowery. Martha was a formidable heavy set woman who with a no nonsense attitude but she always had a soft spot for her Steven Grant.

She sat him down and told him gently that sometimes mother nature spares those not able to bear the heavy burden of all that came with being an online Guide. Sometimes people never came online, for whatever reason. Sometimes they remained dormant. 

Steve left her office that day and never went back to another class. Her voice had been gentle but her words had cut deep within him. Dormant. Never to come online. They all thought it, Martha was the only one to say it out loud. It's not that he was lacking mentally, no, not that. It was his traitorous body that was his enemy. 

His health had always been failing, he'd catch every cold or flu that passed. The nurses at the hospital all knew him and he called them by name whenever he ended up there and wasn't wheezing for breath or fainting from fever.

The loss of that dream, one of his late father's dreams for him, was another hard blow and it sent him reeling for months after. It was only Bucky's constant presence at his side and thought of his mother being left all alone that stopped him from taking a header off the Brooklyn bridge.

Soon after that his mother caught the sniffles on work one summer day and within three days it had escalated to pneumonia and then she was gone too. After that even Bucky couldn't keep Steve's spirits up. He wallowed alone in his apartment in the weeks before the rent money was due and he had to move or be evicted. 

He was sitting at the kitchen table that had once been the warm heart of their happy home, staring at his asthma medication. There was just enough in the little brown bottle for him to go to sleep and stay that way. He was just about to reach a trembling hand toward it when someone knocked on his door, making him jump and knocking the bottle over.

It was Mr. Bowery, Martha's husband and Alpha Sentinel. A bear of a man, his shoulders spanned the small doorway. He'd come to see how Steve was faring and to give condolences on his recent loss. Mr. Bowery was a General in the Army, tall and sharp in his dress uniform, his medals shining in the dim light of the lamps. His voice was a deep rumbling that came from his barrel chest.

"A lot of people believe that physical strength makes you powerful. That only 'strong' people are worthy of being sentinels and guides. Look at me for instance, people look at me and only see my muscles. They tell themselves 'he must be so strong… perfect as a sentinel' but let me tell you that when I first came online it took me al least a year before I could control my senses enough to even leave the centre. It was a difficult time and I teetered on the edge of depression for a long time before I met my Martha and leveled out."

He shifted in his seat, dwarfing the faded, ratty flowered couch.

"But the strong cannot really know the value of strength because they have no idea what it is like to be without it. They don't know the value of power because they have never been powerless. They don't know the value of a helping hand because they have never been helpless. They think weakness is simple because they don't know what it takes for a person to rise past that weakness. Being a sentinel or guide takes a lot more than a strength… of mind or of body. it takes strength of heart and will. "

He stood and placed a large hand on Steve's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"….and you have that in spades kid. You're going to be an incredible guide one day. trust me."

For a long time after he was gone Steve sat in the dim living room, thoughts tumbling through his mind.

Years later when Steve finally came online after the serum, he would always think about the General's words and how they'd shaped his life from that moment on. His determination to join the army, to do some good with what little he had. When Bucky had joined the Army and left for the War, he'd taken everything Steve had worth living for with him.

Finally he'd set aside his yearning to be a guide. Life had handed out the lumps and so he took them and kept moving, kept pushing... because to stop would be to lay down and die. And he'd promised himself that day when put that bottle of asthma medicine back in the cabinet with a tremor in his hands that he'd never look down that road again, no matter what came.

Maybe one day he would be a Guide but he was through waiting around for it. Until then he'd go out and do his best for his people and for his country. The country that his parents had come to so long ago with stars in their eyes and a dream in their heart. For the freedom that they hoped their son would never know the absence of. That oh so fragile liberty that good men and women laid down their very lives every damn day to protect.

He knew that strength was not just how big you were, or how big your stick was. True strength was his father rocking him to sleep in the wee hours of the morning, strength was his mother taking the train everyday to visit her Preemie baby as he clung to life, it was Bucky sticking by Steve's side all through the years when Steve was a little sarcastic shit with a big runaway mouth, it was Mrs. Barnes who stood up to her abusing husband and raised her son to respect all women. 

It was Sarah Rogers who worked two jobs to pay for her son's medical bills and was more of a hero to Steve than anyone he'd read about in print or on screen.

He would show others that a person could rise above their weakness and in doing so find strength. That those who fancy themselves as strong should never mistake compassion for weakness.... mercy for compromise… forgiveness for cowardice.

He'll do his damndest to make the American Dream of truth, justice and freedom become an American reality. And if he were to meet a Sentinel one day who called out to his Guide essence, then he would do his damndest with that too.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

He finds Bucky in his room, freshly showered after a run with Sam. He's sitting on the soft carpet, leaning back against the bed. The electronic blinds have been pulled way back, revealing a large plate glass window that looked out unto the New York skyline. 

Bucky's hair was damp and slicked back on his skull, the juncture where metal meets flesh fully visible due to the tank and basketball shorts Barnes is wearing. Steve flops down to sit next to him, shoulder to shoulder.

"So…" Steve bumps the other man's shoulder gently with his. "… have a good run?"

Bucky is silent for a few seconds then turned to Steve, searching the blond man's face until Steve starts to fidget from the scrutiny.

"You're really asking if Falcon and I had a chance to talk about this whole sentinel thing, right?" he smirks as Steve sputters and weak denial. Barnes turns his head back to look at the view. "…yeah, we talked about it some. The important things anyway."

Steve nods, knowing Bucky can see him from the corner of his eyes. The silence stretches for long minutes. But Steve is patient and waits, just enjoying time spent with his friend. When Bucky fell from the train that day, only Steve's promise to himself and his parents that he'd never contemplate suicide ever again that stopped him from diving after him. 

Having James back, even if he wasn't the same man Steve knew, made his chest warm. Steve had changed in many ways too and it was interesting all the new ways they re-learned each other. It was almost worth everything they'd been through have each other again... almost.

"You know I love you right Steve-o?" Bucky's murmur startled him. 

"Uh… course Buck. I love you too."

Barnes looks back at Steve again, dark brown eyes searching bright blue. 

"I know you do" Bucky smiles, "… and I'd do anything for you. You know that right?"

Steve furrows his brow. "Of course I know that. I'd do the same for you Buck."

Bucky nods, humming to himself. "… and you know that I'm with you 'til the end of the line."

Steve gulps thickly, nodding.

"Good." Bucky looks back out on to the city. "… cause there ain't no way in hell you and I are bond compatible." 

Steve chokes on spit. " … the fuck?"

Bucky chuckles, "Watch that mouth Rogers. You heard me. You and me, we're best friends and brothers. In fact, there ain't really no name for what we are and I would readily storm the gates of the Hell and punch out the devil himself for you but you and me together as Sentinel and Guide? We'd kill each other in two weeks."

"Besides," Bucky sighs, "… I'm not in a place where I can handle a bond right now. Fuck, we don't even know what HYDRA did to me anyway. They could have scrambled me up but good. That's not some thing I want to put a Guide through."

Bucky glances back at Steve with a sly smile 

"Plus, I think there's a Sentinel here who's already got your number, am I right?"

Steve felt his face heat as he huffed. "Who Stark? You were ready to kick his ass earlier."

"I know I know…" Bucky ran a hand through his damp hair. "I had time to think about it while I was running and after talking to Sam about it, this started clicking into place. Besides, Natasha was waiting for me in ambush at the door to my room."

"She what?" Steve barks. Bucky waved him back.

"it's was no big thing Steve, she just wanted to talk a bit. Let me in on some of the tribe's status quo. You know are Sentinels are when things aren't settled. She got in my space a little and I backed down so we know for sure what the pecking order is. It actually made me feel much better…. more steady. I never realized how much Sentinel instincts affected me before now."

He shakes his head ruefully. 

"I kept wanting to rub myself on everything and everyone. You and Sam mostly. I'd run my hand along walls and doors and would touch things I knew were Stark's and Tasha's. That must have driven Tony up a wall, having me here in his nest and fighting against his instincts like that for so long."

"What do you mean?"

"They didn't teach you 'bout the Sentinel hierarchy in the classes?" Bucky looked askance at Steve. "…when a new sentinel comes into a tribe's territory, certain things have to happen. If the newcomer is just visiting then he or she defers to the alpha. "

"If they are there to stay then they have to find a place within the hierarchy. A sentinel bonded to a guide within the tribe has the same status as their bond mate. An un-bonded sentinel must prove themselves against the tribe's enforcer to determine where they stand."

"And Tasha's the enforcer?"

"Yup. Even if they lose, the newcomer can still be given a place within the tribe. If they win they can either become the new enforcer or challenge the alpha. That's risky because if they lose the challenge they could get kicked out altogether. It's not just a test of strength but a test of character. You could win against an alpha but still get the boot if the rest of the tribe won't accept you."

"The thing is that until that happens, until things are settled then the tribe is ...well, unstable is really not the word for it but the best way my gramps described it was that he'd get 'ansty'. It was a very unsettling experience for him. If Stark was willing to go through that for your star spangled ass then he MUST have it bad."

Bucky patted Steve on the shoulder and rolled to his feet, padding in the small private kitchen to snag some cold pizza from the fridge. They spent the next few hours criticizing reality TV on the huge flat screen Stark had installed in all the private suites.

It was way past midnight when Steve wandered the halls once again, Bucky's words tumbling over and over in his head. Today had been a wild ride emotionally. It was like that time he and Buck had rode the Cyclone over and over at Coney island and Bucky had ended up ralphing into one of the large rubbish bins. Ha, served him right for stealing Steve's salt water taffy.

His feet take him down to Tony's workshop wear the man is taking something very expensive looking and very complicated apart with a blow torch. Surprisingly, heavy metal is not pumping through the overhead speakers but the weird and haunting remix of "In for the kill" he recognized from a movie night where Barton had picked the new Judge Dredd reboot. 

Steve remembered it because the young blonde Judge had been a latent guide in the movie who'd come online while trying to survive the day. It reminded him of his own trial by fire emergence post serum.

Tony's in thread bare jeans that clings to his lithe frame and a ratty Twisted Sister t-shirt that was so worn out it was almost transparent. Sweat had the t shirt slicked to his shoulders and down his back where a thin strip of skin teased between the shirt and the low riding jeans. Steve's eyes travelled down appreciatively when he was startled by the music jerking to a stop.

"Are you here to finish what Barnes started or are you so dazzled by my gorgeous self that you’re struck speechless?"

Starks tone is jesting but there is an dark undercurrent to it. Steve pushed himself off of his lean against the doorway and stepped closer.

"Nope. Bucky's fine. We had a good talk and everything is settled now."

Stark puts down the blowtorch and picks up a screwdriver, never turning around as he began to pry something or the other off the expensive looking doodad.

"Good. Good. It's late. You should run along now. It's the time for all good little avenger's to be in their beds."

"By that logic you should be in bed to" Steve smirked back, leaning against a nearby table, patting Dummy as he rolled up.

"I never said I was a good avenger." Tony mutters darkly. Steve frowns.

"But you are a good man…. And a good Alpha."

Tony grips the screw driver tighter, his back rigid. Steve waves Dummy away and steps closer to Tony.

"Are you going to turn around and look at me Alpha?" Steve asks softly. 

Stark leans both fists against the table before him and hangs his head. Steve takes a step closer.

"Please look at me Alpha…"

"Don't…." Tony barks "... Just don't…. When you call me that….. You don't know what it… "

Steve steps closer, standing just behind Starks taut back. 

"Did you know that I was practically dormant before the serum?" Steve says lightly, ignoring the way Tony back muscles clench. "…you can imagine everyone's surprise when I registered level 6 afterwards. Myself included. You see, I had put that dream aside for a long time when I was a kid and never really picked it up again. To me, finding a Sentinel was secondary so I just never took it seriously."

"...then I went into the ice and woke up in a new world and there was so much to do and see to even think about seeking out a bond. And who did I know here?, who could I trust to bond not only with Steve Rogers but with Captain America? It just seemed like too much effort so I let it slide again and again. It's only now that I realize that old dream actually has a chance of coming true." 

"Is this the part of the fairytale where you tell that you've found a bond mate in your long lost friend and partner?" Tony snarls softly.

"No. this is the part of the story where I tell you that I realized that my bond mate was right here in front of me all along."

The screwdriver clangs to the floor.

Steve's voice is a whisper. "Turn around and look at me please Alpha." 

Tony shivers and, taking a deep breath, turns slowly. 

Steve hisses in sympathy. Stark's face sports a massive bruise, starting from just under his eyes and reaching down to his top lip. Steve reaches up gentle hands to cup Tony's face, touching the tender flesh with feather light fingertips.

"Tony" he breathed.

"It's fine." Tony shrugged, his dark eyes looking up at Steve through thick lashes, "… I zigged when I should have zagged. Barnes is quick."

"Yeah. Buck's a scrappy fighter. Bailing me outta trouble on the street nearly every damn day, he had to get fast and mean."

Tony's dark eyes glance away, "So you and Barnes okay?"

"Yeah. We're good." Steve smiles, " He and Sam talked about it and he'll be okay. Even cleared things up with Tasha."

Tony breathed out and his shoulders lost a tension they'd been holding. "Good… that's good."

Steve kept his hands on Tony's face, running a thumb against that stubbled jaw.

"Thank you for that."

Tony quirked an eyebrow. "For what… the testing? I knew I should have told you but I didn't want to bring it up when it could have been for nothing. I mean… we're still decrypting some of the files from Hydra and …."

"No, not that…" Steve laughed softly, "… for everything you've done for me. Everything with Bucky, with Sam, cleaning up after the colossal fuck up with SHIELD and HYDRA. For taking care of us, taking care of your tribe even when we were such ungrateful shits to you. For bringing us into your home, your nest and protecting us all."

He leans in and presses a chaste kiss against Tony's lips. They are soft and warm and he soon leans in for another.

"I see you Anthony Edward Stark…" he whispers between more soft kisses. "… I see you Sentinel."

Starks arms wrap around Steve's waist and pulls him flush against the other man.

"Y…you do know what you're saying to me right? What those words mean?" Tony voice hitches a little as he searches Steve's blue eyes hopefully.

Steve grins nods, dipping in for another kiss, this one longer and hotter. Starks tastes like coffee and a little like one of Dummy's special motor oil spiked smoothies. 

"I was top of my class in guide school. I know what I'm saying. Trust me… I'm in the Army. "

Tony laughed, touching his forehead to Steve's. "Be all that you can be huh?"

Steve shakes his head, chuckling "More like be all that we can be… together."

"Such a sap" Tony rolls his eyes. He leans up and presses a kiss against Steve's lips, his dark eyes searching Steve's baby blues one more time before nodding. "Ok let's do this then."

He brings up a hand to cup the back of Steve's head, pulling him closer until they are a breath away from each other.

"I see you Steven Grant Rogers" he says tenderly, "… I see you Guide."

Something uncurls inside Steve's chest and stretches like a cat. It feels good… feels right. Steve laughs, pressing butterfly kisses to Tony' generous mouth and jaw. Stark's hands slip down to run along his back as they fall into an embrace. 

A sense of contentment fills Steve and it's nothing like the Guide classes ever described. It's like being around that kitchen table with his parents again when life was perfect and Steve knows he's found home. 

He feels Tony's Sentinel essense fill the cracks left behind from his time in the ice and chase away the last of the bitter cold. He buries his nose in Tony's neck and feels the cool metal of the arc reactor against his chest.

"mo cheann amháin…" he murmurs into the Tony's warm salty skin, "… Angels are guarding, And they watch o’er thee"

"Ditto, mo chroí fíor" Tony responds warmly and Steve pulls back, surprised.

"You know Gaelic?" he boggles. 

"Genius here…" Tony shrugs, cheeks dusted pink, "… plus sometimes when you're stressed a word or two slips through and I was curious."

"… so you learned a whole language because I mumbled a few words?" Steve tilted his head with a shit eating grin, "… Bucky was right, you do have it bad for me."

Watching Tony Stark sputter indignantly was hilarious and kissing him silent was even better. As they part for breath Tony pulls away to quirk an eyebrow at the blond,

"So...what's this I hear about you sneaking out the roof to smoke?"

"JARVIS you rat fink" Steve whined.

JARVIS' denial is an odd mix of smug and affront as Tony laughs. 

"Nah, it was Tasha that blabbed on you" he gasped, wincing as he strained his bruised face.

Steve flushed and sheepishly apologized to the AI. He groaned and put his forehead on Stark's shoulder.

"I'm never gonna hear the end of this am I ?"

"Nope Never." Tony grinned, "… I am gonna tease you about that even when we've got matching rocking chairs in Coulson's Home for Aging Super Heroes. It'll be great, mine would be all tricked out with gadgets and yours will have brace on the side for you shield. I'll even get you one of those old timey pipes so you can relive the glory days for your youth."

"So we're growing old together eh?" Steve smiled as Tony flushed and glanced away. 

"Yeah…you know" Tony bites his bottom lip nervously. Steve thinks its utterly adorable.

"Bucky's gonna need a chair too. And Sam and Tasha and the others."

"Geez Rogers…" Tony huffs. "… everyone gets a chair alright? Even Fury… the one eyed bastard. It's gonna get pretty crowded on the porch though. You think you can handle that Captain?"

Steve smiles slow and a bit wicked and Tony's eyes go wide. The blonde leans down to claim his Sentinel's lips in a hot wet kiss only pulling away when Tony's gasping for breath.

"Yeah…" Steve's eyes burn as he leans down to claim those sweet lips again. "I think I can handle that."


End file.
